When Dipolog City is mentioned on dinner tables, posh cafés and cosmopolitan western dishes are really not the ones that pop into mind, the city being more associated with its bottled sardines. I was surprised then on our first night at the city when we visited Big Joe’s Café along one of Dipolog’s avenues.

The café’s façade is modernly chic, paneled horizontal walls frame a rectangular window, with red, black and whites dominating the colors. The café has a metropolitan look that would not be out of place in Greenbelt or Bonifacio High Street.

A curving red wall houses the café’s counter and opposite it are the seats for guests. The ground floor seats around 30 persons while the mezzanine cum function room which looks over the café can hold 20 individuals. Clean lines and solid colors make up the café’s design, reminding me somewhat of Baguio City’s 50’s Diner.

Our group was lucky enough to be invited by the owners to experience the Big Joe Café experience and have a taste of their bestsellers which started to come out of the kitchen as soon as we started to take our seats.

Serving sizes are huge especially with the price which was unbelievably low. Can you believe the price on that massive baby back ribs? Php125.00! I don’t think you can get a deal like that in Manila.

Chow down commenced in no time and we were soon busy eating, moving from one dish to the next, wanting to taste everything Big Joe’s had to offer. All the dishes are really superb but my favorites are the BJ’s special fried chicken and their sizzling burger steak, the bistro specialize in burgers after all.

Everyone was superbly impressed and superlatively full after the barrage of food from Big Joe’s. We would have loved to have desserts and coffee afterwards unfortunately there were no more room for such in our bulging tummies.I totally recommend Big Joe’s Café if ever you get a craving for western food while in Dipolog City; very affordable prices, gigantic serving size and more importantly flavorful food. Big cravings? Big appetite? Try Big Joe’s.